


The Closest Thing to Home

by thirdsister



Series: The Closest Thing To Home [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bearded Steve Rogers, Carol & Valkyrie do not have time, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Light Angst, The big celestial road trip to kill thanos, Thor is a big dumb puppy, Unplanned Pregnancy, space ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirdsister/pseuds/thirdsister
Summary: On the way to fight defeat Thanos and bring back their fallen friends, Steve and Natasha get some unexpected news.





	The Closest Thing to Home

“Steve, you have to stop pacing.” Natasha sighed, leaning against the ship wall. 

“Can’t. I can’t stop moving til we know. Hoo, is it hot in here? It’s very hot in here. How long do we have to go?”

“45 seconds”

“Ok. Oooph, ok. We got this.” He shook his shoulders and clapped his fists together like a boxer entering thing ring.

“I have never seen you this stressed out and I’ve seen you fight aliens. Can you please stand still? There’s a ton of fragile medical equipment in here and I’m getting motion sick just looking at you.”

Steve and Natasha froze as the timer chimed. 

“You ready, Rogers?”

“If you are.”

She was pretty sure it would work. Humans were midway down the list of species the blood test was designed to work on according to the packaging. This was it. All she had to do was walk over and pick it up and they’d have their answer. Simple. Natasha held her breath as she reached for the test. At the last second she pulled her hand away. “Nope. I can’t. I can’t look”

“Do you want me to?”

“No, I just—I’m not ready to know. Let’s go get food and come back to it.”

Steve made a noncommittal whimper, but Nat was already tugging him by the wrist in the direction of the ship’s dining area. Steve obliged. It was useless trying to rush her. They would know when Natasha was ready to know and not a moment before. They busied themselves munching the unsalted cardboard disks that masqueraded as crackers. The label said foodstuffs, but Natasha remained unconvinced. They were certainly tasteless, but they were unlikely to upset her stomach and Nat would take the victory where she could. They ate in silence, desperately trying to ignore the potentially life altering information a mere 1200 feet away. 

Natasha nearly choked when Thor came bounding in waving something over his head. “Everyone,” Thor’s voice boomed through the hull, “Look! I was in the med bay and look what I found! This magic stick says someone’s having a baby. Who’s having a baby?”

Natasha pounced on him like a jungle cat. “Keep your voice down,” she growled, “we’re not exactly ready to share this information with the whole team.”  
“It’s you?” Nat through him a _look_ and he flinched apologetically and continued in a stage whisper, “Sorry! It’s you?! This is the best news. Tiny baby avenger! Earth’s mightiest infant! You know I’ve always wanted to be an uncle.” He pulled Natasha into a tight embrace, lifting her off the ground.

“Thor, you’re crushing me”

“Sorry about that,” he took great care lowering her back to the ground, smoothing her hair the way a child might to a doll “There you are.” She bristled at the fussy gesture, but she had bigger battles to win. By the sound of footsteps in the halls, Thor’s shouting had gathered the attention of their shipmates. 

“What in Valhalla are you yelling about?” Valkyrie called as she made her way into the dining area, Carol followed close behind.

“Nothing.” Thor hid the test behind his back and clapped Steve on the shoulder with his free hand. “Just joking around with my old pal Steve here.”

“Uh huh. I could have sworn you were just shouting ‘everyone, look!’ What are we supposed to be looking at?”

“Steve’s beard, of course.”

“Why?” Carol deadpanned.

“Because he’s thinking about shaving it. Tell him it makes him look like a tough, Asgardian warrior.” In that moment, Steve would have fought Thanos single handedly if it meant ending this interaction.

“Well the greatest warriors in Asgardian history were women so…”

“Right, true. Good point there.” Thor was floundering.

“But it’s your face and if you like it keep it. If you don’t, get rid of it.” Carol gave Steve a nod and exited. Valkyrie opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, plucked a beverage from the refrigerator and went to find something worthy of her time. 

“Smooth.” Natasha said flatly, taking the test out of Thor’s hands. She trusted Thor with her life, just not with her privacy. All this trouble for one little word, “positive”. It blinked in several different languages, most of them alien. Positive. Natasha felt numb except for a tingling in her arms. Was this shock? Was this what being in shock felt like? Thor’s voice brought her awareness back to the present.

“I think that went well, all things considered. And, just throwing this out there, Thor is a great name for a boy. Or a girl. Just ah give it thought,” He clapped Steve on the shoulder and beamed “well done, Captain Rogers!”

Natasha fixed Thor with a flinty stare that made his blood run cold. Congratulations and celebratory revels could wait, he had clearly overstepped somehow and, perhaps, this once he could quit _before_ making a bigger mess. He threw Natasha his best grin and bolted. Finally, Natasha and Steve were alone. Steve stood up and wrapped both of his hands around Natasha’s unoccupied one. 

“Before anything else happens, I want you to know that I’m all in. I mean, of course, only if you want… but if you’re wondering where I stand, I’m all in. No doubts.”

“It’s almost funny how bad the timing is.”

“True,” he chuckled, “but there isn’t ever a good time for people like us.”

“Fair point, Rogers.”

“So, where do you stand? Are we doing this? Because I suppor-” She stopped his mouth with a gentle kiss.

“I’m all in too. I have doubts. A ton of doubts, but I want this. I’m all in.” The words felt dangerous to say aloud. There were millions of ways this could go wrong, but she knew it was a risk worth taking. 

Steve raised a hand to Natasha’s face, running his thumb softly along her cheek. He guided her lips to his own and kissed her deeply. She pressed her hands to his back and his other hand slid down to her waist. They jumped apart when they heard heavy footsteps coming their way.

“Hey man” said Korg, “Were you guys kissing in dining area? There must be a better place for that. I’m not judging, but people eat here. Not really the designated kissing space. You might want to find an outer space to do that in. Just a little space travel humor for you.”

Steve and Natasha couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Korg was quite pleased with himself, assuming it was his joke that elicited the cackling. There, in the kitchen of a spaceship, laughing with a man made of rocks, at the edge of a distant galaxy lightyears from the only planet they'd ever known Steve and Natasha felt something they thought had been lost forever. The tiniest spark of hope.


End file.
